CDS

Whether it is due to the conclusion of quarter-end window dressing, or due to a more poor manufacturing data out of China overnight, but the new quarter is starting off poorly for risk with Europe flat and US equities lower, while the scramble for safety means that bond yields across the developed world just hit new all time lows as precious metals are surging once again on ongoing speculation central banks will do anything to keep markets propped up and buy up even more assets.

The SWIFT rebuild will likely require the insights of an outlet such as Hyper Ledger, run by longtime Zero Hedge CDS and commodity trading icorn, Blythe Masters. Hyper Ledger works with a consortium of organizations and corporations tasked with developing systems to offer protection for messages sent between the worlds central banks, which will be based on blockchain technology. A rebuild opens new concerns about the current integrity of the SWIFT platform and what problems may be lurking within it that we have yet to discover.

The only thing that can halt the tsunami of bond buying, would be a Bond Shock, an event that is certain to take place, the only question is when. As BofA points out, the relentless chasing after government paper will change "if Quantitative Failure spreads from Europe & Japan to the US." Here's how to time it and what it would look like.

Investors are increasingly reaching for protection of various sorts ahead of next week's Brexit vote. The credit derivatives market is the latest to experience the surge as corporate CDS indices spike on extremely high volume and perhaps more troubling, UK Sovereign CDS has spiked to its highest in over 3 years as fears of devaluation or default rise...“Many viewed Brexit as unlikely enough that they didn’t have to worry about it, and now they’re panicking to some degree."

"Central banks have lost the “War against Deflation”. They have failed to stimulate animal spirits depressed by the 4D’s of excess Debt, financial Deleveraging, aging Demographics and technological Disruption. This changes if Quantitative Failure spreads from Europe & Japan to the US. A rise in US bank CDS and/or a dive in assets related to consumer & housing credit would be very negative for global asset prices in our view. Note the new whispers of a peak in the US consumer credit cycle which, if true, at a time of zero rates in an $18 trillion, consumer-led economy would be concerning."

Rapper Demarcus Davis, aka Maine Musik, was arrested last week after he was seen on YouTube and in social media posts sending death threats to Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, while brandishing stolen guns. The police tracked him down using a house number and street name visible in the video.

Please do not adjust your screens: that off-green color you are seeing, that is not a malfunction. Yes, for the first time in six days, global stocks are lower with the MSCI all-country world index dipping from a 6 month high dragged down by lower European and Japanese equity markets, as the USDJPY dropped to a fresh five-week low while Treasury yields continued to hit new record lows because, as Bloomberg explains, "traders assessed the outlook for the global economy."

In “The Valley” the last 7 or 8 years has seen a morphing of true business fundamentals into a place of pure financially adulterated fantasy. Here is where the story changed from “Something built that customers love and will pay for," into “Build something that can give the illusion VC’s want to see and hear so they can pay for the right to then sell that illusion to Wall Street and we all get rich.” True business metrics or morals be damned.

With Saudi Riyal forwards plunging back above 3.81, dramatically weaker than the current peg, Bloomberg reports that Saudi authorities are cracking down on currency traders as speculation mounts that the world’s biggest oil exporter won’t be able to maintain the riyal’s peg to the dollar as revenue plunges. The Saudis face two very tough choices...